History of Humboldt County, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present, Part 107

Author: Irvine, Leigh H. (Leigh Hadley), 1863-1942
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Los Angeles, Historic Record Company
Number of Pages: 1328

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Francisco. In February, 1883, he removed to Humboldt county, Cal., secur- ing employment here on a dairy farm near Ferndale until August, 1883, when on account of his health he returned to Switzerland. Restored in health by the conditions of climate in the Alps, Mr. Moranda in 1886 came once more to California, continuing in the dairy business here until 1901, when he purchased his present place at Loleta, Humboldt county. At the time of his purchase of the forty-nine and three-quarters acres, the land was a wilderness, thick with spruce, willows and underbrush, but by hard work Mr. Moranda has cleared the ground until his property is now one of the finest modern sites in the county, and here he successfully operates an up-to-date dairy consisting of twenty cows, by continued endeavor having cleared the property of debt as well as of the wild underbrush which at first covered it. In his political interests Mr. Moranda is a supporter of the principles of the Repub- lican party. Since 1886 he has made two trips to Switzerland, once in 1912 and again in 1913 and 1914, the last time remaining fifteen months, when he returned to take charge of his ranch.

JOHN P. MULLEN .- Although not a native son, John P. Mullen has been in the state since he was six months old, and this is the scene of his first recollections. He was born in Virginia City, Nev., March 18, 1868, the son of Jeremiah and Elizabeth (Sullivan) Mullen, born in County Cork, Ireland, where they were married. They migrated to the Pacific coast in pioneer days, coming via Panama to San Francisco. Jeremiah Mullen was engaged in mining at Virginia City, Nev., and from there in September, 1868, he came to Humboldt county, Cal., and on Lawrence creek homesteaded one hun- dred sixty acres of land twenty-two miles cast of Eureka. It was wild land, but he cleared and improved it and converted it into a valuable farm. Hc first built a log house, afterwards a frame house, which was burned, and the third house which he erected is still standing. By purchasing adjoining land he became the owner of a ranch of eight hundred acres, upon which he raised cattle until he died in April. 1898. His wife had preceded him two years, her death occurring in 1896. Of their four children there are three living, as follows: William H., a rancher on Lawrence creek; John P., of whom we write; and Timothy J., also a stockman on Lawrence creek.

As stated above, John P. Mullen was reared in Humboldt county from the age of six months. He grew up on his father's ranch, and was educated in the public schools. From a lad he learned the stock business and riding the range. As did all the sons, he remained home on the home farm helping his parents, and after the father died he and his brother William H. bought a ranch of eight hundred acres from their uncle, David Mullen, and ran it in connection with the home ranch for four years. John P. then sold his interest in both ranches to his brother William. In 1903 he bought the two ranches which he now owns, the Tom Bulger ranch of three hundred sixty acres and a part of the old Charles Roberts ranch, five hundred ninety-one acres. The latter has two sets of buildings, while the former has good buildings and improvements; about one hundred acres are under cultiva- tion. He engages in cattle-growing, raising the Short Horn Durham stock, his brand being J P. It is a splendid cattle ranch and can feed about one hundred fifty head of cattle. He also takes contracts for getting out tan bark for the tannery, a business he has followed for six years.

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Mr. Mullen was married in Eureka November 7, 1891, being united with Miss Etta Phelan, born in San Francisco, the daughter of Young Phelan, born in Arkansas. When a young man Mr. Phelan came to San Francisco, from there coming to Eureka, where he engaged in hunting for the Fort Baker Company with his pack of hounds, following it as a business until he retired to Eureka. His wife died in 1914. Of their four daughters, Mrs. Mullen is the third oldest, and is a woman of natural ability and charm. Mr. Mullen was for several terms trustee of the Kneeland school district, being clerk of the board. Fraternally he is a member of Eureka Aerie No. 130, F. O. E. He believes in the principles of the Republican party.

ELVEZIO PEDROTTI .- In the Eel river valley there is no more enterprising and highly respected citizen than Elvezio Pedrotti, a native of Switzerland who has carved out a fortune for himself since coming to this country as a youth. Born in Giumaglio, Canton Ticino, Switzerland, in December, 1867, he was the son of John, a farmer of that district, and Ma- riana (Adami) Pedrotti, both of whom died in their native land. Of their six children, three sons are now living, the youngest of whom is Elvezio, who was brought up on the farm and received his education in the public schools, at the age of sixteen years coming to California, whither his brothers had preceded him and sent back good reports of the opportunities for advance- ment and success in the new country. On October 24, 1884, Elvezio Pedrotti left home and came to New York, whence he continued his journey to San Francisco, going to Eureka, in Humboldt county, Cal., the latter part of November of the same year, in which town his brother Victor had estab- lished a dairy farm. For a time Elvezio remained with his brother in Eureka, then finding employment in the dairy of the Russ Company on Bear River Ridge, where he remained a couple of years, after which he continued in the employ of other dairymen in the vicinity of the town of Ferndale for a period of ten years, save for four months spent in a trip to his old home in Switzerland in the year 1892. In 1896 he rented a dairy ranch on Bear River Ridge from Mr. Russ, his former employer, conducting it in partner- ship with G. La Franchi for two years, then renting two small ranches near Ferndale which he managed independently for four years, his herd con- sisting of sixty cows. Later, Mr. Pedrotti rented the Steinhoff place near Fern Bridge, which he ran for ten years, with a herd of about eighty cows. Purchasing his present place of eighty-one acres at Waddington, Cal., in 1906, he has since that time been engaged in the dairy business there with a herd of fifty cows, raising on his own land hay, grain and alfalfa, as well as such green feed as carrots and beets for his stock, for which he also has fine pasture land.

In his political preferences, Mr. Pedrotti is an upholder of the principles of the Republican party, and with his wife is a member of the Court of Honor, she also being a member of the Independent Order of Foresters. His mar- riage was solemnized in 1896, uniting him with Mrs. Attelia (Grande) Giacomini, who is also a native of the Canton of Ticino in Switzerland, and they are the parents of three children, Alphonso E., who assists his father in the dairy business, Mary and Agnes. By her former marriage, Mrs. Pedrotti has two children, Carrie Giacomini, who makes her home with her mother, and Henry Giacomini, a grocer in business in Ferndale.

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CARLO MAFFIA .- The native home of Carlo Maffia, now a prominent hotel man of Humboldt county, Cal., was beside the beautiful Lake Como in Italy, and there he was born on January 25, 1871, the son of Isidor Maffia, a farmer in that district. After receiving a good education in the public schools of his native land, Carlo Maffia, or Charles Maffia, as he is now known to his friends, came to the United States, arriving in San Francisco on February 12, 1891, when he was a young man of twenty years. Going immediately to Duncan's Mills in Sonoma county, Cal .. Mr. Maffia secured employment there and at Occidental, in the same county, for a period of five or six years, after which he removed to Gualala, in Mendocino county, being employed on a ranch there for a year. His next move was to Usal, where for a while he worked in the woods for the Dollar Lumber Company. February of the year 1900 saw his removal to Humboldt county, his present home, where, after a few months spent at the town of Scotia, he went to Bayside, remaining there for the space of three and one-half years. Determining to start out in a new line of business, Mr. Maffia in 1903 entered into partnership with Agostino Brambani in the purchase and management of the Italian Swiss Hotel on First and C streets, Eureka, and the two continued for several years as suc- cessful proprietors of the hostelry, when Mr. Maffia sold out his interest to his partner and removed to San Francisco, there to engage in business for four years, a business which he still owns. At the end of that period he returned to Eureka and bought back his former interest in the Italian Swiss hotel from his old partner, the two at present conducting it together under the partnership of Brambani and Maffia. Recently they have taken into the part- nership Mr. Maffia's brother Isidor, and have branched out in their chosen industry, in 1911 having erected the new Flor de Italia Hotel on Second street, between B and C streets, Eureka, which is a four-story building with base- ment. and is modern and up-to-date in all its equipment.

The marriage of Mr. Maffia to Marie Albini was solemnized in Eureka, his wife also being a native of Italy, and they are the parents of four children, of whom only two are living, namely, Siro and Rinaldo. Mr. Maffia holds membership in the Royal Arch Lodge No. 2 of San Francisco.

ANTONE ENOS .- Humboldt is a county which is well adapted to the success of dairymen and farmers and this section of the state of California is glad to welcome from foreign shores men who are expert in this line of occu- pation. It is therefore not remarkable that among her citizens are many from Southern Europe, since the mountainous regions of those European countries are inhabited so generally by shepherds and owners of dairy herds ; and Mr. Enos, a well known dairyman of Humboldt county, is a representa- tive citizen in that industry, he having been born at Manadas, St. George, in the Azores Islands, September 27, 1877, where his father, also named Antone, is a farmer and stockman, and where the death of his mother, Maria (Ceu) Enos occurred.

The Azores are islands of which perhaps less is generally known than of the other European countries, but they hold a high place among health and pleasure resorts, and their Portuguese atmosphere and place-names possess a little of the local color which the Spanish have given to our own California. One rarely hears their name without recalling Longfellow's line which refers to "some far-off, bright Azore." It was there that Antone Enos grew up on

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his father's farm, received his education in the public schools and remained at home until the age of twenty years. At that time he removed to Humboldt county, Cal., in 1897, and secured employment at the dairy of Frank Peters, at Capetown on Bear river, working there intermittently for three years, and during a part of this time embraced the opportunity of attending the public school at Capetown. After 1900 he continued in the same line of employment at other dairies in the vicinity of Ferndale, Cal., and by 1904 had sufficient money accumulated to permit of his starting out independently. Accordingly he leased the ranch of C. O. Morrow, which comprised thirty-five acres, thereon conducting a dairy of twenty cows for a period of three years, which he gave up in order to lease the licks place, a larger estate, of one hundred and sixteen acres. Here Mr. Enos established a dairy of sixty cows and has con- tinued to operate the place ever since, though in the meantime purchasing thirty-one acres on the Island, three miles from Ferndale, which he has im- proved greatly and where he has built his new residence, barns, etc., and has a fine herd of twenty cows, all high grade, of the Guernsey breed. Through his interest in the dairy business, Mr. Enos was led to become one of the organizers of the Valley Flower Creamery Company, a stockholder and director of the same from its inception, and at present the vice-president of the company.

The marriage of Mr. Enos took place in Ferndale, his wife having been formerly Miss Wilhelmina Peters, a native of the same town as himself, and niece of Frank Peters, a pioneer of Humboldt county, and daughter of Wil- liam Peters, who was also an carly settler of this district. Mr. and Mrs. Enos are the parents of two children, by name Cedric and Frank. In political prin- ciples a strong Republican, Mr. Enos is known in fraternal circles as a member of the Woodmen of the World and the U. P. E. C., in Ferndale, he being sec- retary of the latter order.

JOHN BATTISTE ZANOTTI .- California has been the leading induce- ment which has brought many of the sons of Italy from their beautiful native land to the more prosaic and matter-of-fact United States, where, however, they find place names of no less beauty than those with which they are familiar, though these in California are of Spanish origin, and where, in the southern part of the state, the climate and scenic setting of the country have won for it the name of "the Italy of America."

The son of Francisco Zanotti, a farmer and stockraiser of Italy, John Bat- tiste was born in Ono Degno, in the province of Brescia, on the twenty-first of December, 1869, and, the oldest of a family of seven children, was educated in the local public schools and brought up on his father's farm, where he fol- lowed the trade of his father until removing to California in the year 1900. It is only natural that the newcomers from Italy should follow the occupa- tions of dairying, farming and stock raising, since in their native land many of them have in childhood tended their father's flocks upon the mountainsides and in the sheltered valleys; and Mr. Zanotti found his first employment in America on a dairy ranch near Ferndale, Cal., which occupation he continued for a period of seven years, during that time being employed on only three different ranches. About the year 1907 he went into business independently along the same line, renting the L. Petersen ranch of forty acres, whereon he conducted a dairy for four years. In 1911 he rented a ranch from George

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Sweet near Waddington, Cal., comprising one hundred and thirty acres of rich bottom land, where he is today doing well in the business, being an energetic and ambitious man, and one who is bound to advance. On his ranch he milks seventy cows, likewise raising stock which he pastures in the hills in that vicinity, and in his business achievement is a shining example, to other youths of his homeland, of what can be accomplished by one who is willing to start out for himself and make his way in a new country.

In his political interests, Mr. Zanotti is a member of the Republican party. By his marriage in Brescia, Italy, with Miss Anna Flocchini, also a native of that place, he is the father of five children now living, namely, Francisco, Louis E., Margarita, Katherina and John Battiste.

RUEL RUSS .- As the owner and occupant of a ranch near Carlotta, Mr. Russ is a prominent figure in the locality and is here engaged in general farm pursuits. Much of his life has been passed in California, as he was only seventeen years of age when, in 1869, his father brought the family to the west on one of the first transcontinental trains. Ruel remembers well the journey and the settlement in the then lonely town of Eureka, far removed from congenial associates. His boyhood was one of constant work. His advantages in an educational way were meager, but being a man of observa- tion he has overcome to a great extent the lack of thorough schooling. Ruel Russ was born in Waldo county, Me., October 15, 1855. His father, William Russ, also a native of that state, was an own cousin to Joseph Russ. known throughout Humboldt county as one of its most prominent and wealthiest citizens. The grandfather, Lott Russ, was a lumberman in Maine and, while he never amassed a fortune, prospered to a moderate extent. The mother of Ruel Russ was Orilla Turner, also a native of Maine. She lived to be eighty-five years of age, while the father passed away in his seventy-second year. Their family numbered five children, of whom Ruel was the third in order of birth.

The marriage of Mr. Russ and Miss Etta Allen was celebrated in Eureka, September 5, 1885. Miss Allen was born at St. Stephen, New Brunswick, and met her future husband in this county, whither she came with her sister Leora (now Mrs. J. M. Francis, a resident of Placer county, this state), to join their father in Eureka in 1881. She is a daughter of Robert and Julia (Arbuckle) Allen, natives of New Brunswick and Liverpool, England, re- spectively. The mother passed away in St. John, New Brunswick, and about 1875 the father came to Humboldt county, where he followed lumbering ; he died in Eureka in March, 1910. Mrs. Russ was educated in the public schools of Eureka. Mr. and Mrs. Russ are the parents of four children, of whom Ruel, Jr., married Josephine Ohlendick, and they make their home at Fortuna, with their two sons, Harold R. and Leland I. Gracia is the wife of James F. Snow, engineer with the Northwestern Pacific Railroad, and with their three daughters, Florence, Evelyn and Eulilee, make their home in Eureka ; Eulilee married Julian Baumrucker, in the employ of the Newell Lumber Company, the family residing in Carlotta; Glen Allen makes his home with his parents and will graduate from the Fortuna high school with the class of 1915. The Russ ranch comprises forty acres on Van Dusen river about one-half mile from Carlotta, all rich bottom land devoted to farming and dairying. Mr. Russ also has a small commercial orchard of apples and

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cherries. The latter are of fine quality and find a ready sale at a good figure on the place.

HORACE PEDROTTI .- The present state of cultivation to which the county of Humboldt, Cal., has attained, is due in large measure to the initiative of its foreign-born citizens, many of whom have purchased and improved ranches in that section of the state, where they carry on agriculture or stock- raising extensively. Among these natives of a distant country who are adding materially to the progress and welfare of California by their industrious and practical methods of carrying on their business, should be mentioned Horace Pedrotti, a very successful dairyman, who has made a fortune for himself in this new country, and now owns land near Colusa, Cal., where he is raising alfalfa successfully by the aid of irrigation.

The father of Mr. Pedrotti, Philip Pedrotti, came to California in the early days, and after a few years spent on the Pacific coast, returned to his native canton of Ticino, in Switzerland, where his family grew up and where his death occurred in 1913, his wife, formerly Caroline Sartori, continuing to live at the old home. Of their four children, Horace, the next to the oldest, was born on the farm in Ticino in August, 1878, received his education in the public schools of his native country, and in 1893 removed to California, spend- ing the first ten years of his. residence in this state in the counties of Sonoma and Marin, where he was employed on dairy farms. In 1903 he went to Ferndale, in Humboldt county, where six months later he entered the dairy business for himself, leasing the old McGuire ranch of fifty acres, where for five years he conducted a dairy consisting of thirty cows. The Ragles place, which comprised eighty acres of land near the town of Waddington, was also leased by him for four years, where he ran a dairy of forty cows; likewise his present place, formerly known as the Frank Kelly place, which consists of one hundred thirty acres situated one-half mile north of Waddington, whereon he conducts a dairy of sixty cows, also raising hay and green feed such as corn, beets and carrots. This lease was retained by Mr. Pedrotti when he sold the lease on the Ragles property to his brother, Walter Pedrotti, a resident of Glenn county, Cal. With his brother, he owns two ranches in Glenn county, one consisting of one hundred sixty acres, situated four miles from Willows, the other of eighty acres, nine miles from the same town, both estates being under irrigation and devoted to the raising of alfalfa and to dairy and farming purposes. In July, 1915, Mr. Pedrotti purchased a dairy ranch of forty acres near Grizzly Bluff, where he intends making his residence.

The wife of Mr. Pedrotti, formerly Bridget Barca, is also a native of Canton Ticino, Switzerland. Their marriage took place in Eureka, Cal., and they are the parents of four children, namely, Nellie, Katie, Janey and George. In his political preferences, Mr. Pedrotti is a member of the Republican party. He is an intellectual and energetic man, who brings to his work in the New World his best endeavor, and holds a high place in the esteem of all who know him.

BEN SANTI .- Another of the natives of Switzerland who have come to America to make for themselves a home in the new country, and who, having grown up in farm surroundings at home as youths, have followed the pursuit of dairying and farming with much success after coming to California, should be mentioned Ben Santi, an enterprising and liberal young man who is

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making a success of dairying in Humboldt county, Cal., like many others of his countrymen.

The birth of Mr. Santi took place on September 21, 1890, in the Canton of Grissons or Graubunden, Switzerland, where he was brought up on his father's farm and received a good education in the public schools. In the year 1911 he came to this country, settling in Humboldt county, Cal., where he found his first employment on a dairy farm at Ferndale. Having gained sufficient exper- ience and means to permit of his going into business independently, Mr. Santi in 1913 leased a forty acre ranch north of the town of Waddington, in this county, where he has since that time been carrying on dairying successfully, milking a herd of twenty-seven cows. Recently he has taken a new lease, this time of the Nissen dairy ranch at Arcata, an estate of one hundred and sixty acres on the Arcata Bottoms, where he intends to operate a ranch of eighty milch cows. It will thus be seen that, entirely by his own endeavor and industry, Mr. Santi is coming to the front in his chosen line of work, making a success of the same and increasing the extent of the property whereon he conducts his business. In his political interests he favors the prin- ciples of the Republican party, while fraternally he is associated with the Druids in Ferndale, and his religious affiliations are with the Catholic Church of the same town.

OBADIAH CYRUS HOOPER .- As postmaster at Holmes, where he also conducts a general merchandise store, and in addition engages in stock- raising, Obadiah C. Hooper is one of the best known men in the community, and also one of the most influential and popular. He has been in the mer- cantile business a large part of his life and is also an experienced farmer and stockman. His appointment as postmaster was received in 1912, and his service in this capacity has given the greatest of satisfaction. His store is the principal one in Holmes, and the service rendered there is of the best. Mr. Hooper has never been married and his aged mother resides with him, sharing the comforts of his home, and adding greatly to its cheer.

Mr. Hooper is a native of California, born in Yuba county, November 21, 1863. His father, William Watson Hooper, was a native of Fanning county, Texas, born there when the Lone Star state was a part of Mexico. He crossed the plains with ox-teams in 1854, locating at Wheatland, Yuba county. He was in Oregon for a time, where he engaged in farming, and while in Portland he met and married Miss Mary J. Hull, a native of Pittsfield, Illinois. She is the daughter of Rev. C. B. and Nancy (Shin) Hull, born in New York and Illinois, respectively. Her mother was the first white child born on Illinois river. In 1852 they brought their family by ox-teams over Oregon trail and settled in Portland. She was reared in Washington county, Ore. Mrs. Hooper bore her husband five children, three sons and two daughters. The father died in Glenn county, this state, at the age of forty-four years. Obadiah C. Hooper grew to manhood in Yuba and Glenn counties, his father having a homestead and a pre-emption claim in the latter county. He attended the public schools of his district, and remained at home with his father, assisting with the care of the farm until he was twenty-one years of age, and later engaged in farming for himself. When he was thirty-five he engaged in the mercantile business at Chrome, now Millsap, Glenn county, where he remained for two years. In 1898 he came to Humboldt county, where during the first winter he followed the hotel business as manager of the Dyerville Hotel, and

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History of Humboldt County, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present, Part 107

Author: Irvine, Leigh H. (Leigh Hadley), 1863-1942 Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Los Angeles, Historic Record Company Number of Pages: 1328

Author: Irvine, Leigh H. (Leigh Hadley), 1863-1942
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Los Angeles, Historic Record Company
Number of Pages: 1328